The 2024 World Series of Poker Will Be the Busiest Ever
Event organizers Caesars Entertainment have announced the full daily event schedule for the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP). The 55th edition of the Series will take place on the Las Vegas Strip at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas from May 28 to July 17, 2024. The two venues will house almost 700 poker tables.
The $10,000 entry Main Event begins on July 3 for a third successive year. There will be four starting flights running daily until July 6. Playing down to a final nine players on July 14, the Main Event Final Table is scheduled to begin on July 16 at Horseshoe Las Vegas. The venue was formerly known as Bally’s.
Peter Eastgate collected $8.25 million when winning the 2008 World Series of Poker but quit the game a few years later. ©Getty
Last year’s Main Event attracted a record 10,043 entrants and crowned Daniel Weinman its champion. Weinman became the first American to win the WSOP Main Event since 2018. He claimed $12.1 million – the largest Main Event first-prize payout in history, surpassing the 2006 winning prize by $100,000.
Champions Will Be Reunited at Reunion
Daniel Weinman and other former WSOP Main Event champions will be invited to start 2024’s World Series proceedings in a new event, the ‘Champions Reunion No-Limit Hold ’em Freezeout.’ The first of 99 tournaments on the 2024 schedule, the $5,000 entry event gives former Main Event champions free entry to this competition.
In what Caesars Entertainment is describing as “an exciting twist,” players who eliminate a former Main Event winner will receive an automatic entry into the 2024 WSOP Main Event as a bounty prize. It will be interesting to see how many former champions take a seat.
Since March 2020, John Cynn, World Series champion in 2018, has registered a single tournament cash. He has presumably curtailed his poker-playing activities. 2008 champion Peter Eastgate quit poker five years after collecting his $9.15 million winner’s prize.
Pius Heinz only played intermittently in the years following his 2011 Main Event success. His last known appearance at a poker table was in July 2019. 2001 winner Carlos Mortensen has not been sighted in almost seven years. Likewise, the 2000 champion, Chris Ferguson, who was implicated as part of a Ponzi scheme involving the now defunct Full Tilt Poker, has been unseen since 2020.
What Are the 2024 WSOP Highlights?
Ninety-nine tournaments – an increase of four on the 2023 roster – means the 2024 World Series of Poker is numerically the biggest ever. The $500 entry ‘Casino Employees’ tournament that normally kicks off proceedings will once again start on the first day but begins two hours after the ‘Champions Reunion.’ Notable 2024 Series highlights include:
- Event 41: Mixed No-Limit Hold ’em; Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot (8-Handed). Beginning on Saturday, June 15, this first-of-its-kind event will take place over three days. The tournament entry is $1,500, and the starting stack is 25,000 chips.
- Event 65: Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold ’em. Players aged 50 and over can participate in an exclusive high-roller event for the first time. Featuring a $5,000 buy-in and 50,000 chip starting stack, the three-day event begins on Wednesday, June 26.
- Event 80: Independence Day Celebration No-Limit Hold ’em. $800 secures entry into this new three-day with two starting days. Flight A begins on Wednesday, July 3, and Flight B will start on Thursday, July 4. The starting stack is 40,000 chips.
- Event 82: $1,000 No-Limit Hold ’em During Main Event. As Flight 1D of the Main Event is played on Saturday, July 6, a $1,000 buy-in Hold ’em has been scheduled for a 7.00 p.m. start that evening. Only a two-day event, 20,000 chips is the starting stack.
- Event 89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold ’em. Another tournament for players who bust out of the Main Event but want more poker action, this new four-day event begins on July 11 with a $3,000 buy-in and a starting stack of 40,000 chips.
Online the Route to WSOP Money Making
The highest stakes tournaments include the June 21 Super High Roller, which demands a $250,000 entry fee. Beforehand, there are Hold ’em tournaments requiring $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 to gain a seat. $971,856 would be needed to play every tournament at the 2024 World Series – the average tournament entry is $9,817.
Dating back to 1970, the WSOP is the world’s longest-running tournament. The 2023 Series attracted 214,641 entrants from 114 different countries to the Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas – the WSOP home since 2022 – and awarded more than $403 million in prize money.
Online satellites mean a shot at poker immortality can be achieved cheaply. In 2023, over 1,225 players qualified for the World Series Main Event online. 2003 champion Chris Moneymaker is the most famous of all Main Event winners who qualified online. He subsequently spent 17 years as a PokerStars ambassador.
